TUESDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 95, Bethel 60
@Evansville 66,
Southeast Missouri 63 (OT)
@Murray State 90, Transylvania 49
Florida A&M 76,
@Austin Peay 70
UT MARTIN 95, BETHEL 60
MARTIN, Tenn. - A total of five University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball players scored at least a dozen points as the Skyhawks ran away with a 95-60 triumph over the Bethel Wildcats at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
Cameron Holden pumped in a game-high 21 points in only 21 minutes off the bench for UT Martin, including a 15-of-17 performance from the free throw line. His 15 makes were just two shy of the school record set by Mitch Stentiford against Southeast Missouri on Jan. 3, 1984 and were the most for any Skyhawk since Benzor Simmons converted 16 free throws at SIUE on Jan. 24, 2011.
Jaron Williams pitched in 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting and freshman Anthony Thomas scored all 17 of his points in the second half this afternoon for UT Martin. Eden Holt tallied 14 points while Ajani Kennedy’s 12 points and game-best 11 rebounds were good enough for the first double-double of his Skyhawk career. Eric Rustin (seven blocks, six rebounds in 16 minutes) and Kenton Eskridge (seven points, six rebounds, game-high four assists, two steals) also provided valuable minutes for UT Martin, who improved to 2-0 to start a season for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign.
Bethel (4-4) was led by Myron McKinney’s 14 points and 10 rebounds while Kamron Rose also provided 11 points off the bench. The Wildcats fell victim to an air-tight UT Martin defense that induced 20 turnovers to go along with a 17.6 percent shooting performance (3-of-17) from three-point land.
Kennedy scored the first five points of the contest for the Skyhawks before a driving dunk by Williams capped off a 9-0 run to give UT Martin a 14-5 advantage early. Rustin sank a pair of free throws at the 13:52 mark of the first half to give the Skyhawks their first double-digit lead of the day at 18-8.
Over a near seven-minute stretch, Holden scored 12 of UT Martin’s 14 points as the Skyhawks extended their lead. Bethel managed to get back within 10 points with 2:41 left to play before the break but UT Martin used a 9-0 run to claim a 45-26 lead at halftime.
Holden (13) and Holt (10) already collected double figures in the scoring column at the intermission while McKinney’s six points topped the Wildcats.
The trio of Williams (eight), Kennedy (five) and Holt (four) combined to score 17 of the Skyhawks’ first 21 points of the second half before Thomas heated up. The 6-7 guard out of Silver Spring, Md. went off for 17 of UT Martin’s final 29 points, including nine consecutive Skyhawk points during a 1:52 span. His trifecta with 49 ticks remaining provided UT Martin with its biggest lead of the afternoon (95-58) as the Skyhawks emerged victorious in their first taste of competition in 13 days.
EVANSVILLE 66, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 63 (OT)
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Southeast Missouri (2-3) lost in overtime for the third time in four games when it fell to Missouri Valley Conference member Evansville (2-3), 66-63, Tuesday night at the Ford Center.
UE trailed, 54-48, with 2:50 left to play when it scored eight of the final 10 points of regulation to tie the game at 56-56. Jawaun Newton made two free throws with 21 seconds left to tie the game.
In overtime, SEMO led 63-61 after Jordan Love spit a pair of free throws with 18 seconds on the clock. On the ensuing possession, Shamar Givance made a layup and was fouled with one second remaining. Givance made the free throw to complete the 3-point play and give the Purple Aces the win.
SEMO led by no more than six points in the game before suffering its third overtime loss in five games this season.
Nana Akenten, Nate Johnson and Eric Reed, Jr. combined for 18 of SEMO's 26 points in a low scoring first half.
UE scored the first five points of the game before the Redhawks answered with a 13-2 run to take a six-point lead. Jordan Love capped the run when he got his shot to fall in the lane giving SEMO a 13-7 advantage with 13:33 remaining.
SEMO later led, 18-17, when Reed, Jr. knocked down a 3-pointer from the left corner to snap a seven-minute drought where the Redhawks went without a field goal. Reed, Jr. followed that up with his own jumper to give SEMO another six-point cushion at 23-17 at the 4:28 mark.
The Purple Aces then scored seven of the final 10 points of the first half to close SEMO's lead to 26-24 at intermission. The Redhawks headed into the locker room with a halftime lead for the fourth time in five games this season.
Reed, Jr. came off the bench to lead SEMO with 16 points on 6-of-11 field goals. Three of his made field goals came from 3-point range. Akenten followed with 14 points and a game-high 4-of-4 from long range. Nolan Taylor narrowly missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.
SEMO shot 41.8 percent (23-of-55) from the field and a season-high 50 percent (8-of-16) from 3-point land. The Redhawks turned the ball over 16 rebounds and outrebounded the Purple Aces, 41-32.
Givance led all scorers with 20 points, while Newton contributed 15. UE also made eight 3-pointers, but only at a 34.8 percent clip (8-of-23). Noah Friderking rounded out the Purple Aces double-digit scorers with 11 points.
MURRAY STATE 90, TRANSYLVANIA 49
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers won for the 25th consecutive time at the CFSB Center in a 90-49 victory over the Transylvania Pioneers Tuesday night in Murray, Kentucky.
The Racers (4-2) are now finished with their scheduled non-league games as they get back into Ohio Valley Conference play Monday at Austin Peay.
Five Racers scored in double-figures led by 14 points from Chico Carter, Jr., and 12 from Tevin Brown. Brion Whitley added 11 points, while Devin Gilmore and KJ Williams each added 10 points.
Leading the Pioneers 38-29 at halftime, the Racers opened the second half with a 27-6 run to open the game up to a 65-35 lead with 11:04 remaining.
The Racers ended the night shooting at a .617 clip (37-of-60), while holding Transylvania to .333 (18-of-54). The Racers held a 41-28 advantage on the boards.
FLORIDA A&M 76, AUSTIN PEAY 70
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University men's basketball team got the very best effort from a visiting Florida A&M squad searching for its seasons first win and came out on the wrong end of a 76-70 decision in the Dunn Center, Tuesday.
The loss, which drops the Govs to 4-3 on the season, also snaps an 18-game home winning streak for Austin Peay.
Early, it was easy to tell which team played a game 24 hours ago and which team hadn't; the Rattlers looked a step fresher in transition and jumped out to an early lead, which they held through the opening minutes.
The Govs and Rattlers traded blows for the bulk of the half before Austin Peay appeared to take control following back-to-back Carlos Paez threes to put the Govs up seven at the six-minute mark. But as quickly as the burst appeared for the Govs, Florida A&M answered—six straight points, the capper coming on a dunk from Desir Evins.
The teams resumed trading buckets, and Alec Woodard answered a bonkers heave from MJ Randolph as the shot clock ran out on the Rattlers' penultimate possession of the half with a three of his own to send the teams into the locker room tied at 34.
The scoreboard failed to reflect the difficulty, of their own design and that posed by Florida A&M, of the first half for the Governors. Austin Peay failed to shoot 40 percent from the floor, while the Rattlers hit 57.1 percent from the field. The Rattlers outrebounded the Govs by six in the half and doubled them up on points in the paint (24-12); all things considered, a tie after 20 minutes in the face of those numbers was a pretty decent state of affairs.
The second half dawned and with it, seemingly renewed resolve for the Govs. The Austin Peay defense got more active as the second half progressed. Trapping in deadball situations began to lead to Florida A&M turnovers. The Governors began to create more opportunities for themselves in situations where they held the edge—in transition, or isolating defensive matchups they could exploit.
The trouble was that Florida A&M, desperate for its seasons first win, seemingly always had an answer. When the Govs would tie, the Rattlers would get a shot to drop on the other end to retake the lead; if Austin Peay looked poised to string together a series of scores, Florida A&M was able to procure a stop and, inevitably, a score on the other end.
Slowly, Florida A&M pulled away—by the 4:07 mark, the Rattler lead had grown to 11 points and things were looking increasingly dire for the Govs.
And then all of a sudden they weren't.
In 68 seconds, the Govs reeled off a 7-0 run to make it a two-possession game again after a Mike Peake three-point play. That touched off a late-game tete-a-tete that once more saw the ebbs and flows of action swing on every possession. Randolph would hit a three; the Govs would answer with a pair of Peake free-throws and a Reginald Gee layup to make it a two-point game with 34 seconds to go.
Alas, it was not to be. Kamron Reaves sank three of four free-throw attempts with under 20 seconds left, and Gee and Terry Taylor were unable to get late three attempts to go in the waning seconds.